This was an essay that I wrote for an English class;
Dedicated to the one I love Bradly Hays
There are many camping trips that stick out in my mind simply because
I enjoy to camp. For instance, my first backpacking trip with Boy
Scouts in Lassen National Park, and my very first Boy scout Camporee
( Competition ). Although as my experiences have grown I have had my
share of occasions that were memorable for reasons other than
pleasure. One of the less pleasant was a camp out that we got rained
out and had to go home. Another memorable trip was the one my momís
Girl Scout troop took. This is were I would meet a very special person
, my girlfriend.
The trip was to Loafer Creek and it was a Girl Scout Camporee.
Judging from experiences that I have had in Boy Scouts, I expected to
see tents set up in horse shoe shaped arrangements and they would be
in a field. To my dismay I couldnít see one troop when we arrived.
The campsite we were in was laid out on a hillside that was very steep.
We began to scout a site for the troopís tent and discovered that the
campsite was inhabited by another troop, although they were older.
This troop had taken up most of the Northern end of the site, but had
left enough room for us to take the Southern end. We ended up setting
up in the northwestern corner of the camp which was up the hill to a
plateau.
After we had put up the tent, one of my assistant scout masters
, who was also the father of one of the girl scouts, brought a canopy
that we set up. When it was unloaded, the other troop came down to
help put it together. As I would find out later, these girls were
about the same age as I was ( classified as Cadets in Girl Scouts),
which accounted for the flirtatious character that started when we
constructing the canopy. Being the most experienced, and because I
wanted to be in charge, I was in control of giving directions to set
up the canopy. With every direction I would have to demonstrate then
go around and help all the girls helping. It seemed like no one knew
what I was talking about so I ended up giving individual directions.
To make sure that they could see what I was doing when I demonstrated
, I stood next to or behind the girl I was helping and instructed
them.
That night we had a campfire in our site, and, of course, the
Cadet troop joined us because it was there site too. We all gathered
around the little campfire ring and began to roast marshmallows and
smores, or at least we tried. When we tried to put the marshmallow and
chocolate between the gram crackers and warm them we almost burnt
ourselves. The Cadets were watching me the whole time, but one in
particular stared more than the others. She was average height for a
girl of twelve, and she had long blonde hair that she kept in a pony
tale the majority of the weekend. She wore teal colored glasses, pants
, a baggy T-shirt, and she looked the oldest out of the troop. The
other girls ranged from very skinny , to the point that they reminded
me of toothpicks, or they were just weird. As the night went on we
laughed and talked until we had to go to bed.
The next day began with breakfast and the girls going off to
Ďstationsí, which included, yarn-doll making and diary making to name
a few. When I finally got to talk to the Cadets again they told me
how stupid the station were. For instance, the "diaries" were made
of construction paper and yarn, with holes to tie the yarn to. As
the day trudged on everyone was showing signs of boredom, and lack of
interest. The cadets were the most prominent in this, because they
came back and talked with me for a while. But I guess that was good,
because it was time to go swimming, and I couldnít wait.
After playing tag for a while one of the older Girl Scout leaders
told me that if I wanted to swim I had to go to another area. I got
out of the area that was reserved for the Girl Scouts, and went to
the area that I was told to. To my pleasant surprise the girls
followed me to the other area, and we continued our game for a while.
In a few minutes the leader that told me to move came back and said
that I was breaking the rules, because the girls werenít suppose to
be in the area that Iíd had to go to, and since I was playing with
them I was the one at fault. The cadets and I decided that we had had
enough of the leader and got out of the water to head back to camp.
We returned to camp and changed into dry clothes, and began to
talk about how stupid that the leader was. We had seen a trail that
led out of our camp, so we decided to see where it went, and follow
it. The trail went up the hill just behind our tents. The cadets,
mainly the blonde girl, lead for a while then, when we started back,
I lead the way. The entire time we talked and laughed about anything
we could think about. I thought this was great, because it was the
first time girls had actually talked with me.When we returned we
found that the leaders were mad at us. A group of girls and a guy
by themselves wasnít at all a good idea according to one of the
leaders. I was beginning to think that the leaders were out to get
me.
Later that night, after the camp wide campfire, everyone was
in their tent, when the Cadet's started to yell, "Goodnight Bradly",
They said in a long drawn out girl way. I replied with a, "Good
night Cadet's". After a couple times the Brownies started in, and
this is where my Mom ended it with a, "GOODNIGHT CADET'S" in a
forceful tone.I felt embarrassed at the time, but not as much as my
girlfriend would later. We would make fun of each other, over this,
for a long time, seeing that she was the one to start it.
In the morning we packed up and started home. I said goodbye to
the girls and we all went home. In about a week, I got a letter from
a Jessica Brightwell whom I didnít know. When I opened the letter, it
said, "You probably donít remember me, but I am that girl at Girl
Scout camp that wore glasses, oh and I got your address from Teresa
Muir". It surprised me that she wrote; Iíd never received a letter
from a girl. So I wrote back and we began writing back and forth.Then
after a while, I began to be bogged down by school, and I couldnít
write to her. So I got several letters from her that I never replied
to. When the next few years came, we hadnít been in touch at all and
I had all but forgotten about Jessica.
Two years later, I attended a band camp to catch up on the skills
we were required to know. A lot of my friends were there, but
something else. A girl tried to avoid me and avoided eye contact, to
the point that it was obvious. When I came around her she would put
her head down bashfully and walk away. I thought this was really
weird, because she looked familiar, but I couldnít remember from
where. That night, I decided to look through some old pictures. Then
out of the blue, it hit me, "Jessica". I hadnít recognized her
because she had cut her hair short and didnít have her glasses on.
Another thing that caught my eye were her clothes, she wore tighter,
shorter clothes. Since we were in different sections, skit night
came around ,and she and I still hadnít spoken.
When our Director told us to get skits made up, naturally I went
over to one of my friends that Iíd been in Scouts with to see if he
wanted to do some. While I was there, Jessica came over to asked if
the Smurf song had any words and I said, "No, there arenít any words,
Jessica." At that instant her eyes opened wide as she blushed and
left. Later I would find out that she went hysterical when I said her
name. She thought Iíd forgotten her, and as I look back at that, I
remember getting butterflies in my stomach when I said her name or
even thought of her.
On the first day of school, I planned to give her a letter that
I had written to her . The letter answered the questions from the
letters I didnít reply to, that Iíd kept. I passed her going to class
and handed her my letter. To my surprise, she had a letter for me
too. Essentially she asked if we could be friends. I wrote back with
a yes, because I still liked her and I wanted to get to know her
better. After two months together we made it "official", and said
we were going out. It was very exiting and emotional.
Two years later, we are still together. Over these two years
we have learned a lot about each other. We have seen quirks that we
have like, being over dominating and eating habits; they are not just
her. We are planning to get married in a couple years. If I hadnít
gone to the dreaded Girl Scout camp with my mom I wouldnít have
gotten the chance to meet the love of my life in a carefree
environment. I would have missed out on the center of my love and
wouldnít have known it. In the past few years we have written to
each other through letters extensively and learned a great deal about
each other in the process. With the understanding that we both have
of each other we are able to see things about ourselves too.
Even though some people see monogamous relationships as bad,
especially at my age, I am content. Some people say I should "play the
field", and not get attached to one person. I disagree, because this
one person has shown me love that, I feel, deserves my love in return.
I am truly in love with Jessica, and that love has made me realize how
the world can be. Sometimes cruel, like the girl scout leader and
other times sweet and new, like the butterflies in my stomach. This
love has also caused me to mature in love. From a "puppy dog" love to
"head over heals" in love. I would give the entire world up if I had
to, to be with Jessica.